Happy Birthday Santa has now been released in paperback. The front cover has been changed a little but there is still a red holographic picture of a present which is quite eye catching.
I got the idea for this story from my daughter, Eve, when she was about 4 years old. It was shortly after Christmas and she told me that she wanted to send a birthday card to Santa. She asked, "When is Santa's birthday?" I didn't know but I thought what a great idea for a story! When I sat down to write the story I wondered who would be asking about Santa's birthday and who would they ask. I came up with the character of Sylvie, the elf, who was determined to find out when the birthday date was. With the help of Rudolph they set out to find someone who could tell them when Santa's special day was. They asked the Chief Elf (who knows everything), Rudolph's Uncle Bert and even the Wise Old Owl. They finally get an answer from a very old creature.
I had a lovely experience as a writer when I submitted this story to Gullane Children's Books (the publisher of The Teddy Bear Scare). Two weeks after sending this story, Sophie from Gullane phoned me to ask if I would let them publish it. Of course, I said yes. This hardly ever happens to writers. If a publisher is interested in one of our stories they take it to meetings, discuss it, perhaps ask for changes, take it to more meetings, ask for more changes ... This can take months and sometimes there is a "No, thank you" at the end. So, it was wonderful to have such a quick and positive response.
You can buy signed copies of this book and all my others, direct from this site. I will sign and dedicate each one. There is even a colouring sheet (under the Fun Stuff heading) to go with the book.
I will be very busy getting ready for the Thought Bubble Festival which is taking place at The Royal Armouries in Leeds on Saturday 20th November. The wonderful illustrator of 'You Can't Eat A Princess!', Sarah Mcintyre, will be there with me. This is the first time we will be doing an event together. It will also be the first time that we meet! Please come along if you can. We are planning on wearing bright outfits and we will be surrounded by aliens.